Evan Fournier nailed a tiebreaking jump shot at the buzzer to give the Orlando Magic an improbable 102-100 home win Monday night after the Cleveland Cavaliers turned the ball over twice in the final 20 seconds.
The Cavaliers had a three-point lead with 18.7 seconds left in the game, possession of the ball and the shot clock turned off, but Cedi Osman's bad pass was intercepted by D.J. Augustin, who was fouled and made both free throws.
Two seconds later, Kyle Korver turned the ball over, and Fournier made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the score after he was fouled at the basket with 13 seconds to go.
Orlando made a defensive stop and got the ball back with 1.8 seconds left. Aaron Gordon inbounded the ball to Fournier, who made a shot fake and took one dribble before swishing in a 3-pointer as the clock ran out.
Fournier finished with 15 points, and Gordon had 23 points and nine rebounds as the Magic won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
The Cavaliers have lost nine of their first 10 games to start the season, including each of the past three. George Hill led Cleveland with 22 points, and Tristan Thompson had 19 points and 16 rebounds.
Cleveland turned an 11-point deficit to start the third quarter into a nine-point advantage going into the fourth.
The Cavaliers began the second half with a 13-2 run capped by an Osman 3-pointer that tied the score 60-60 with 7:55 left in the third. Four minutes later, George Hill drilled a trey to give the Cavs their first lead since the first minute of the game. By the end of the third, Cleveland had outscored Orlando 32-12 in the period.
Orlando took the lead early and created a nice cushion when Terrence Ross hit two 3-pointers in the final minute of the first quarter. That was as part of a 12-4 run to end the period, and the Magic added to their lead in the second quarter to gain a 58-47 halftime advantage.
The Cavaliers agreed to a contract with interim coach Larry Drew hours before the game. The deal is guaranteed for the rest of this season with a buyout option for the 2019-20 season. Drew was 8-1 when he filled in for former coach Tyronn Lue last year and is now 1-3 since replacing Lue this year.
--Field Level Media
Cleveland | Orlando | |
George Hill 22 | Scoring | Aaron Gordon 23 |
George Hill 6 | Assists | Evan Fournier 5 |
Tristan Thompson 16 | Rebounds | Nikola Vucevic 10 |
Sam Dekker 2 | Free Throws Made | D.J. Augustin 4 |
George Hill 4 | Steals | Evan Fournier 3 |
JR Smith 1 | Blocks | Nikola Vucevic 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Cleveland | 100 | 51.2 | 10-23 | 8-12 | 20 | 42 | 2 | 8 | 18 |
Orlando | 102 | 44.8 | 11-34 | 13-15 | 22 | 40 | 5 | 11 | 15 |